God has commanded me to live a life that He calls righteous. He also knows that I will fall short sometimes. Today is one of those “sometimes”. Before 10:00am I had already spent most of my morning acting in ways that I know are not pleasing to God. This is not a real big surprise to me. I mess up several timse a day. You and I can call these "mess ups" sin. We could also call them by their proper names, Lies, Theft, Adultery, and Murder, just to name a few.
Several years ago I decided to stop doing these things and dedicate my life to doing whatever God wants me to do. The problem is, sometimes I still do the things that I know I shouldn’t. Then, I start to get discouraged. I am supposed to be better than this, right?
What do I do after I mess up? Well, the first thing I do is believe in Christ. When I call myself “a believer” I am saying that I believe Jesus died to take away my sins. Sometimes I focus too much on God’s call for me to live a holy life and forget God’s call for me to accept His grace. This isn’t an excuse to do whatever I want. Because He has forgiven me and become a part of my life I want to do what He has instructed me to do. It is however reassurance that God loves me even though I’m not perfect.
Let me share a passage of scripture with you.
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”
- From Paul’s letter to the church in Rome chapter 7 verse 15 (NIV, Copyright 1984; International Bible Society)
I find a great deal of comfort in this passage because it lets me know that Paul had a hard time being the man that God wanted him to be. Paul is a man who God loved dearly. And, God used Paul to spread the gospel to the non-Jewish world. That means that God loves and uses the work of men and women who aren’t perfect.
When Paul wrote these words in his letter to the Christians living in Rome he was instructing them concerning grace. I’m not talking about the kind of grace that means elegance and beauty. No, I will never have that. And, I don’t have much use for it to be honest. I mean mercy that I didn’t earn. That is the grace that I need. I need it every day. And thankfully, God gives it.
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.”
- From Paul’s second letter to the church in Thessalonica, chapter 2 verses 16 and 17. (NKJV, “Copyright 1982; Thomas Nelson Inc.)
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